Antelope Valley College resumed a full schedule of class and business operations Wednesday after being closed much of Tuesday because of unspecified threats made online and via text messages.
The school’s evening classes were held Tuesday night after the threats were investigated by authorities, according to school officials.
The closure of all three of the college’s campuses — in Lancaster, Palmdale and at Fox Field — began about 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The college later announced that sheriff’s investigators had conducted a sweep and classes at all campuses would resume at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The sheriff’s Palmdale Station began receiving calls about 11:50 p.m. Monday from students reporting they had received a text message making “a vague threat” telling “the students to stay home from school,” according to the sheriff’s department.
All the students who called had received the same text, the sheriff’s department reported.
Sometime overnight, “nonspecific threats of violence” were posted on social media and sent to “a few students.” according to Elizabeth Diachun, Antelope Valley College’s executive director of marketing and public information.
The sheriff’s department “had dramatically beefed up (its) presence on campus,” Diachun said.
“We put the safety and security of staff and students first” and closed the campus for daytime classes, she said.
Diachun had no details about the specific nature of the threats or how many students received them directly via text messaging.
“At this time, deputies do not believe the threats to be credible, but are still investigating and will have an increased presence on both the Lancaster campus and the Palmdale campus,” according to the sheriff’s department.
—City News Service